1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to encoding and decoding an image via streaming using a buffer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A data transmission system, which transmits data via streaming between an encoding unit and a decoding unit, stores a bit string generated in the encoding unit in a buffer, and then transmits the bit string. The decoding unit receives the bit string via a channel, decodes the bit string, reconstructs an image from the bit string, and stores or reproduces the image.
Data transmission speed of the channel is generally fixed, but a bit amount generated in the encoding unit increases or decreases according to the complexity of an image. When a bit rate suddenly increases in the encoding unit, the buffer may overflow, thereby delaying data transmission.
In order to generate a bit string having data of uniform size, the encoding unit may use a rate control algorithm.